Delhites to walk against power tariff hikes

To conduct walkathon across the capital

danish

Danish Raza | November 3, 2011



Burdened by increasing tariff hikes in electricity bills, Delhi residents have decided to take things in their own hands. United Residents Joint Action (URJA), a conglomeration of resident welfare associations (RWAs), launched a walkathon on Thursday to protest against increasing tariff hike.

URJA members will conduct walks across 70 constituencies and will meet the RWA constituents and MLAs of each constituency with their set of demands.

“We have just two basic demands. Get the accounts of the power distribution companies audited by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) and bring these companies under the ambit of the right to information (RTI) act. Currently, the companies are not accountable to anybody. Whenever the discoms tell the government that they are facing losses and need to increase tariff, the government keeps mum and gives them a free hand,” said Sanjay Kaul, chairperson, URJA.

On first day of the campaign, URJA members were detained for around 30 minutes when they were on their way from Jantar Mantar to the residence of V K Malhotra, leader of the opposition in Delhi assembly. 

Malhotra, a BJP leader said that the campaign had dull support of his party.

Members of the association also met the MLAs of three legislative constituencies- Rajendra Nagar, Karol Bagh and Patel Nagar.

Last month, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said that the recent tariff increase of 22 percent granted to the three discoms- BSES Radhani, BSES Yamuna and NDPL was not enough and the companies might to for another round of hike.

The chief minister justified the hike by saying that the cost of power on Delhi was still much lower as compared to other states.

Commenting about the same Kaul said, “Last year, when the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) indicated that it would reduce power tariff by 20 percent the Delhi government used section 108 of the electricity act to block the order. This year when the commission has increased the tariffs by 22 percent why does not the government use the same section to stop the tariff order until the CAG finishes its audit?”

Comments

 

Other News

How social media is reshaping elections

Since Brazil’s return to direct presidential elections in 1985, no candidate who finished second in the first round of polling had ever won the presidency. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now 81, has just done it. What explains the comeback, and what changed in Brazilian politics to make it possi

Cabinet approves Dearness Allowance, Dearness Relief

The union cabinet chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the release of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2026 representing an increase of 3% over the existing rates of 6

Cyclone Arnab strikes Andhra as warming oceans amplify storm risks

Cyclone Arnab made landfall along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts in the early hours of Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125–135 kmph and gusts reaching 150 kmph. Its rapid intensification has raised concerns about how warmer oceans, global warmin

Counting matters but which ones?

The first instinct of public policy is to count. Its harder task is to count what counts. We have become remarkably good at measuring the reach of the welfare state vis-à-vis beneficiaries covered, rupees transferred, houses built, connections installed and services delivered. But some of the most

Inching closer to a trade deal with America

The cooperation between India and the United States goes back quite a time. We need to relegate that era to the backburner when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited US in the times of president Dwight Eisenhower and called the American let-off of 10 million dollars in defence aid to Pakistan as a “gun w

Manch vs Musk: Forty people and a foreign billionaire

About forty people walked the roundabout on Teen Murti Marg to the gate of Chanakyapuri police station, a distance you could cover in under a minute, on Friday to protest against Elon Musk’s Starlink. The walk was called by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. Nobody joined them on the way, and nobody seeme

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter